Issue 166

Best wishes for 2016 and may it be a satisfying year for everyone. The challenges for DU remain very much the same with wetlands under increasing threats from climate change and drainage. Amendments are proposed by the Government this year to the Resource Management Act (RMA) and we need to…

Hope you all had a great Christmas and happy New Year. Membership renewal time is coming up for 2016/2017 year. Hopefully they will be in the post at the end of March/early April. DUNZ is looking for a new me (Jan) to take over from this role. I have returned…

It is sad Jan Abel has decided to resign her position as secretary and membership coordinator for DUNZ. She has been much of the glue that has held us together for several years. Jan will be missed for many reasons, she has done a great job of coordinating and organising…

Thanks to the Nikau Foundation, Wairio wetland has again been granted a generous amount toward development for the wetland. The Richard and Doreen Evans Charitable Trust provided $4000 in the 2015 Nikau Foundation funding round. Conditions placed on the grant: It must be used for the purpose applied for. The…

In conjunction with Kaiwaiwai Dairies Ltd, Ducks Unlimited NZ won joint first place in the River Story Award at a recent Morgan Foundation Dinner. Held at the Ridges Hotel in Wellington, the Award recognises conservation efforts to improve water quality before it enters lakes and waterways. Kaiwaiwai Dairies received the…

This is mother (Audrey, front row middle). The group includes daughters Christine, Diane and Lois plus sister-in-law Betty Elliott, then daughters Yvonne and Alison, and nephews Gary, Colin Worsley and cousin Barbara Heap. “We had a great day at the Pritt homestead which included a luncheon with about 40 friends…

New self re-setting traps for Pukaha Pukaha has been looking at a wider range of options for predator control in the reserve and the surrounding buffer zone. Then thanks to a generous donation from Pub Charity, they were able to purchase a number of A24 self resetting stoat and rat…

Better start getting ready Top of the list should be the hunting licence, and probably the regulations booklet. Check out the Fish and Game website for the most up-to-date information. May 2 seems to be the opening day this year. Remember you must have your licence with you whenever and…

and so he should… Jim Campbell has been recognised for more than 50 years of service to conservation in the New Year Honours List. Mr Campbell said he was humbled by the news. “It’s huge. I’ll get used to it, I suppose. We knew the process was happening, it takes…

Why has James (better known as Jim) Campbell been awarded the Member of New Zealand Order of Merit? Usually it is for achievement or service to the community and for Jim Campbell mainly for services to conservation. But there is more – read on. The Order is awarded to those…

A unique wader on the brink Once the common stilt of New Zealand, the endemic black stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae) remains critically endangered and is considered the world’s rarest wader, despite over 30 years of intensive conservation management. Black stilts have a distinctive elongated neck, jet-black plumage, red eyes, long red…

The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife TrustBrown teal/Pateke The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust’s seven brown teal/pateke breeding pairs laid their first clutches, with 34 ducklings hatched in total. Laying of second clutches has now begun. Two older pairs have been released on Rotoroa Island in the Hauraki Gulf, making way…

There was a slow start to the New Zealand shore plover/tuturuatu breeding season, most likely due to the severe winter. The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust said three out of four NZ shore plover pairs are breeding. The fourth pair had not bred last spring, due to a grumpy male. …

Predators and pests - battle continuesand that includes rats and mice… Not an exact science – but getting better. It never ceases to amaze me a the continuing number of predators/pests that are dispatched on a yearly basis at “The Patch”, a western coastal wetland an dune property, southern North…

When I was a kid (and that was a while ago), there was a stream a couple of gullies away from our place with freshwater crays (koura) living there. They were not big but they did taste good. On a camping holiday at Taupo there was the opportunity to head…

Project Taranaki Mounga, a ten year $24 million project involving pest eradication and reintroduction of species over the 34,000ha of Egmont National Park was last December given the green light with a funding commitment by the NEXT Foundation. Local philanthropic organisation the NEXT Foundation announced it would invest up to…

Having their own water feature right in front of their home is a rewarding and entertaining result for hard work for Steve Clarkson and Lyn Watson. Several years ago they built their attractive home that sits right on the edge of their main pond, and now after years of toil…

Whio News 2015 At Oparara/Ugly a 1080 drop in November 2014 was a success with rat numbers reduced from 58 before the drop to 0 after. Scott Freeman reported that summer was the best recorded at the site with 40 wild ducklings and five whione duckling released. Another 1080 drop…

The Wairarapa breeding programme is going very well at Pukaha Mt Bruce. The Shore Plover programme has hatched 22 healthy chicks so far this year with five pairs now sitting on their third clutch. The two pair of pateke are nesting again having so far successfully reared 12 ducklings between them. …

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Ducks Unlimited is New Zealand's leading wetlands and waterfowl conservation group. We work to save our wetlands through protection, funding, technical aid and education so that the flora and fauna of our most endangered ecosystem are a legacy we can pass down to future generations.